Wednesday night at 5 Flags Speedway, Snowball Derby inspection day ended with the traditional qualifying draw for both the 58th Annual Snowball Derby and Allen Turner Snowflake 125. A combined 107 Pro and Super Late Model drivers drew for their qualifying order in the respective divisions, setting the qualifying order following a full day of tech.
Qualifying draw is always important for any Derby week, but seems to have heightened importance this year. With weather looming throughout the week, the order in which you qualify could be the difference in a green racetrack or not, and being on the outside of the bump line or in.
Snowball Derby Qualifying draw underway at 5 Flags.
Drivers draw a snowball with a number on the bottom, which determines the order in which cars head out for qualifying. pic.twitter.com/9BGz1oAjUh
As was the case in 2024, only 45 Super Late Models are officially registered, so all but nine cars will start the Derby on Sunday afternoon The top 30 on time qualify in, with the remaining 15 going to the Last chance qualifier. The top four from the LCQ will take up spots 31-34, with the last two spots decided by provisional.
However, the story is much different for the Snowflake scheduled for Saturday night as a whopping 26 Pros will miss the Snowflake 125. Of the 62 Pro cars entered, the top 30 will qualify on time. The remaining 32 cars will race for four spots in the last chance qualifier, before the last two spots are determined given to teams awarded a provisional.
As of now, Snowball Derby qualifying is scheduled for Friday evening, with Snowflake qualifying scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Provisional spots for both the Super Late Model and Pro Late Model fields are decided by the Blizzard Series points and Allen Turner Pro Late Model points at 5 Flags Speedway, respectively.
Snowball Derby
Qualifying Order
Car Number
Driver
1
18
Max Reaves
2
9
Derek Krause
3
91
Ty Majeski
4
15
Mike Hopkins
5
5
Casey Johnson
6
4
Erik Jones
7
28
Timothy Watson
8
54
Seth Christensen
9
35
Jake Garcia
10
44
Matthew Craig
11
26
Dawson Sutton
12
24
Gavan Boschele
13
36
Ty Fredrickson
14
6
Brandon Lopez
15
98
David Gilliland
16
60
Ryan Preece
17
44
Conner Jones
18
55
Haeden Plybon
19
23
Buddy Shepherd
20
14
Austin Nason
21
30
Noah Gragson
22
89
Dylan Fetcho
23
14
Chase Pinsonneault
24
5
Tristan McKee
25
30
Casey Roderick
26
28
Cole Butcher
27
33
Dustin Smith
28
48
Preston Peltier
29
51
Stephen Nasse
30
96
Spencer Davis
31
12
Derek Griffith
32
76
Kole Raz
33
96
Derek Thorn
34
26
Bubba Pollard
35
16
Jacob Gomes
36
83
Cory Hall
37
21
Kaden Honeycutt
38
51
Kyle Busch
39
08
Jace Hansen
40
81
Carson Brown
41
1
Kasey Kleyn
42
30
Treyten Lapcevich
43
3
Michael Atwell
44
17
Hudson Bulger
45
51
Jake Finch
Snowflake 125
1
14
Corey Deuser
2
22
Donald Crocker
3
62
Keelan Harvick
4
47
TJ DeCaire
5
33
Dustin Smith
6
24
Jade Avedisian
7
99
Cody Martell
8
08
Nicholas Naugle
9
35
Luke Yarborough
10
51
Stephen Nasse
11
5
Ryan Phipps
12
40
Dylan Caldwell
13
11
James Patrick
14
20
Sylas Ripley
15
54
Matthew Craig
16
24
Jayden Park
17
88
Boston Oliver
18
7
Tristan McKee
19
96
Spencer Davis
20
26
Tony Consentino
21
24
Presley Johnson
22
50
Evan Szotko
23
46
Cole Williams
24
1
Cody Brinson
25
08
Spencer Bragg
26
6
Brandon Lopez
27
47
Gabe Brown
28
1
Kasey Kleyn
29
4
Elliott Massey
30
54
Jarrett Butcher
31
99
Craig Slaunwhite
32
67
Colin Allman
33
91
Jim Wall
34
51
Luke Baldwin
35
38
Cody Haskins
36
11
Dylan Cappello
37
29
Cole Robie
38
27
Vito Cancilla
39
13
Ben Mack
40
50
Jett Noland
41
37
AJ Wernette
42
55
Haeden Plybon
43
26
Bubba Pollard
44
54
Kaden Honeycutt
45
11
Will Mack
46
29
Dylan Zampa
47
68
Aidan Potter
48
42
Alex Labbe
49
00
Jimmy Renfrew Jr
50
62
Casey Roderick
51
60
DJ Shaw
52
82
Rafe Slate
53
3
Chris Munson
54
83
JP Crabtree
55
67
Zack Dixon
56
15
Jace Hale
57
33
Albert Francis
58
44
Conner Jones
59
22
Buddy Shephard
60
22
Chase Burgeson
61
25
Isaac Kitzmiller
62
18
Jake Finch
Inspection Day Breakdown
The initial inspection day of this year’s Snowball Derby has come and gone. A tech line that is notorious for being the toughest in the business saw 107 cars roll through the lines throughout the afternoon Wednesday, as Derby week in 2025 officially began.
Compared to years past, tech was relatively procedural this time around. Few cars needed to make a second pass, tech was completed at a rapid pace. Chief Technical Inspector Freddie Query was pleased by what the crew saw from teams this year, noting that the group seems to become more and more prepared as the years go by.
With tech starting at 11:00 a.m. CT, teams are hard at work getting cars unloaded and prepared for the tech line.
Top 10 in Blizzard points (SLM) and top 10 in Allen Turner points (PLM) are the first cars that will roll through. pic.twitter.com/hC8ZeS46AW
“It’s gotten to the point with these guys where they’re so good with their cars,” Query said. “They know what to expect, I’ve dealt with 85% of these cars during the year, these drivers and these crew chiefs. They know what to expect with us. We’ve basically gotten through in record time, we’ve got a couple cars left that’s about it. We’ve got guys that have to bring cars back to get stuff fixed, because our surface isn’t as perfect as theirs might be at their shops, so they go work it out and they come back, get checked off.
“Yeah, everything has gone smooth. Smooth sailing.”
One of the most interesting issues of the day was with Casey Roderick’s Pro Late Model owned by Ty King. The numbers on the No. 62 PLM were deemed to be too short, one of the more odd infractions you’ll hear of during inspection.
The No. 98 Super Late Model team for David Gilliland also failed pre-event tech due to an alleged aerodynamic infraction, and were seen cutting away underbody panels towards the end of the day. No further updates have been given on the Gilliland team at this time.
The Gilliland car is a custom built car with a David Gilliland Racing chassis, first debuted at the Snowball Derby last year.
